沙市中学报（108-4）
作者/来源: 高伦强    发表: 2012-10-26 15:03:06    浏览: 7293 次
　　My Tour in the US

　　毛 悦

　　As the saying goes, “if you love someone, please take him to New York; but if you hate someone, please take him to New York, too.” So it is with the US. For those who have never been to the US, it is the very place where you can know yourself, challenge yourself, explore new frontiers and develop your capability. Luckily, this summer I had a chance to have a date with “Uncle Sam” and got in closer touch with the US.

　　Students' activities

　　The first destination was Los Angeles. We had lessons in the Marymount College to experience the foreign students' life with students from Japan, Russia and France. After a test, we were classified into seven levels according to our grades. It’s terrific to find that we Chinese students were almost in the top classes, which absolutely demonstrates that we Asians can speak English as well as the Europeans.

　　In the morning, we had language training in the camp, which created a sound language environment for us to improve our capacity in listening and speaking. In the afternoon, many outdoor activities were organized for us. We went to Brixtonsouth bay with white beach, swaying palm trees, fresh air, blue sea, abundant sunshine, enjoying the beauty of nature. We also had great fun in the Getty Center, a museum of art and creativity, a home of exploration and discovery, where we enjoyed the innovation and miracles of the world.

　　Not only do the various and instructive activities encourage the students to gain confidence in learning English, but also they help students capture the beauty of nature and experience the greatness of humanity, laying a solid foundation for students’ future learning abroad.

　　Our homestay life

　　When we arrived at the L.A, the guide told us, the place of homestay is a wealthy area. My family includes three people: the host mother is a teacher, the host father is an estate agent. Their daughter is a freshman majoring in automatic design in UCLA. The house sits on the hill and faces the sea, having a fantastic environment. They drove a SUV to welcome us near the Marymount College gate. Host mother is a slim lady, about 50 years old and very kind, always talked to us with smile. She received foreign students to her house many times before. When we lived in their house, there were another two international students living in her house at the mean time, respectively from Russia and Japan. This was their first time to receive Chinese guests.

　　They owned a house with two storeys, clean, tidy and comfortable. Each room was carpeted and well furnished. On the first floor, there was a living room, a dinning room, a kitchen and a guest room. The daughter had her own place to live in. She told us, their house was usually unlocked, which all relied on an alarm and good security in the community. When we were back from outside, we just needed to push the door softly and walked into the house. Their warm treat made us feel at home. Every night after supper we would get seated in the sofa, talking freely and endlessly. We all treasure this common but precious moment.

　　Work style for Americans

　　This time we stayed half a month in the US, made contacts with different kinds of Americans, and had an entire realization of them.

　　Americans are hard-working and responsible, with high passion to their work. They treat some simple but complicated jobs very seriously. For instance, in Disneyland, there were really loaded people there and some projects always had long queues, the organization work was heavy. I saw the staff did their works carefully and they had timely and effective communication with tourists, helped the children and disabled people warmly. Never could we found any impatient expression on their faces or actions.

　　Americans feel very happy when they work, you can find that their happiness is from their heart, that is why what they say or do is spiritual and impressive. It does not matter what positions they are in but how they feel in the positions. Following their heart, they all feel delighted, they all have dignity. When you need help, they are eager to help you out. If you walk toward to a staff, their eyes and smiles will tell that you are welcome.

　　I am always thinking why Americans are so elegant and happy. I once asked a lot of people and did some thinking. My stay here can answer the puzzle. It is from the tradition of Americans. The nation's ancestors came to American continent which once was a wild land. The only way to survive here was keeping working and hard working. The magic power is from the free-market competition, only the fittest one can survive. To realize the American dream of making fortune, it takes big enthusiasm, serious work and great devotion. Another point is that American family value is very important, the only way to make their families live in abundance and joy is to work hard.

　　Distinctive attractions

　　Washington DC monuments

　　Washington DC is the capital city of US. When the car drove us into the city, we felt the capital city's momentum from the architecture styles. The buildings are formally structured, different from the free feeling like L.A. Many squares and statues in DC appear dignified. All the monuments themselves are about history, recording the most important events of the US. The monuments reflect the mainstream American values, all these great building are the great affirmation and declaration of the national spirit. The core the monuments is patriotism, the spirit of democracy and the search of the freedom.

　　National flag everywhere

　　One of the most impressive scene is the US national flags everywhere. From the government departments to the local small shops, you can see the national flags everywhere, which is sure to prove people’s love for their country.

　　Traffic

　　rom the top of building, we may find the city is like a network. The wide roads are dotted with vehicles, busy but in good order, and the drivers always keep low-key.

　　It’s said that there’re 285 million vehicles in the US and every 1000 people has 770 vehicles. If there’s no traffic light, the vehicles always need to let pedestrians go first and all cars will stop at the zebra crossing, but what a pity it is a rare scene we can see in China!

　　In the US, all the school buses are yellow, which is another highlight of the cities. There are signal lights in front and back of the school bus, the signal lights have the same function of the traffic lights, if the yellow light is on, other vehicles speed can not be over 15 miles, if the red light is on, all the lanes vehicles must stop and wait. Americans believe anyone of the children in the school bus can be the US president in the future.

　　I’m not that kind of person, who is crazy about journey, but the tour in the US feeds my curiosity about the outside world. Thanks to the tour, we can better know the most developed country in the world. Thanks to the tour, we’re encouraged to learn English in the real life. It’ll be a fantastic and precious experience for me and my students. We enjoy the stay in the US, we treasure everything, everyone we came across in the US, and spirits of unity, responsibility and harmony in the US will inspire us to fulfill our hopes and dreams…
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